Since the beginning of the electronic industry there has been a need to cool small electronic components. More recently, with the advent of high power lasers there has developed a need to cool mirrors used to direct high power laser beams. Some of these mirrors are segmented mirrors comprised of small mirrors with dimensions in the centimeter or millimeter range. Generally these components are cooled with air currents produced by electric fans. However, in many instances it is not feasible to accomplish the required cooling with air.
There had been some attempts to provide the needed cooling with thermo electric coolers but these devices are relatively expensive and in many cases are not satisfactory. Some small liquid heat exchangers have been produced. However, these devices have been complicated, difficult to fabricate and expensive such as silicon microchannel plate devices.